Information on crop plantings, crop emergence and weather was released Monday, for the week ending April 24, by the USDA in the Crop Progress report.
“The non-probability crop progress and condition surveys include input from approximately 4,000 respondents whose occupations provide them opportunities to make visual observations and frequently bring them in contact with farmers in their counties,” reported the USDA. “Based on standard definitions, these respondents subjectively estimate the progress of crops through various stages of development, as well as the progress of producer activities.”
Other feed crops including spring wheat and oats are also starting to see improved plantings sessions when compared with last year, the agency reported.
Corn and soybeans
About 30% of the corn acres have been planted in the 18 states responsible for 93% of the 2015 corn crop, said the USDA. Last year about 16% had been planted at this time.
Reaching back to 2011, the multi-year average for planting was 16% by this point in the year, the agency said.
Michigan has the smallest percentage of acres in the ground at 3%, which is on par with where it was last year at this time, it said. Missouri has the largest percentage of expected acres planted at 81%, while last year it had 17% planted at this stage and its multi-year average is 31%.
Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina and Kentucky have half or more of their expected acres planted, it reported. Texas and South Dakota are the only states behind where they were last year.
States known for their large productions including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska are ahead of where they were last year, the agency said.
Additionally, about 5% of the crop sown has emerged across nine states, it said. That is an improvement from 2% emergence at this point last year, and 4% for the multi-year average.
Soybean planting has started in most of the 18 states responsible for 95% of last year’s acreage and about 3% of the expected acres have been planted, the agency reported. This is slightly ahead of the 2% reported at this time last year.
Six states have yet to see planting start compared to 10 at this time last year, it said. North Dakota, Mississippi, Louisiana and Kansas were behind where they were at this point last year.
Other feed crops
Sorghum acres for the 11 states that plant the majority of the crop are behind both where they were last year and the multi-year average, said the USDA. However, slightly more states have started planting than at this point in 2015.
All four states known for sugarbeets have started planting with about 61% of acres sown – an improvement from the multi-year average of 36%, but down from the 72% done last year, said the agency.
Oat plantings have surpassed their place at this point both last year and on average, it said. Overall about 71% of the acres were planted.
Spring wheat acres planted have outpaced an average of 28%, but fallen behind last year’s 50%, the agency said. About 42% of the acres have been planted.
Field conditions
Several states are meeting or surpassing the days suitable for field work for the week that ended April 24, reported the agency. Arizona reported the most days with conditions right for work in the field and Kansas and Louisiana the least.
The majority of southern states reported more time appropriate for field work including, but a few states, like Louisiana and Mississippi, had more challenges, the agency said. In the southwest, Arizona saw similar work days to this time last year but New Mexico and Texas saw a slight reduction.
The northeastern part of the country saw most states, have a good planting week with additional time to last year, it noted.
In the western part of the country, California, Colorado and Wyoming report similar field time to last year, while Nevada and Washington have seen an improvement, said the USDA. Idaho dropped some time from what it saw in past years as did Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon and South Dakota.
In the Midwestern region, several states have seen an improvement in planting days compared to last year, it said. Kansas and Ohio had a worse week for planting than in past years and Minnesota was slightly down.